My Generic Build Thread

Now that I've started making progress I figured I'd start a build thread to help keep me moving.
After an accident, and too much rust killed my '92 last spring I started looking for a project. Originally I wanted a rust free shell to swap over my good parts into. Last September I came across a Dragon Green '94 in pretty rough shape. It had a couple of good points though. It was local, the engine and transmission were in great shape, and it was (supposed to be) rust free.
I'd always wanted a '94, and I was looking for a project. So despite the safety orange painted intake manifold, the ghetto false floor where the rear seats should be, and a ridiculous number of Porsche stickers I brought it home.

Here's the one semi Good pic.

As for the rest they definitely belong in the weird Corrado thread...

Why?

The Passat Moonroof has been sealed shut with clear silicone.

Most of the interior is Trash, the moonroof is trash, the paint is half original, half the worst respray I've ever seen. The dash center bezel is in about four pieces, both bumpers are junk. When I pulled the rear bumper I found hidden damage. I could go on, but I wanted a project, and that's exactly what I got.
Anyway,
I finished parting my '92 and got rid of the shell about two months ago. Since then I've picked a local body shop to do the paint and body work, and hoarded a lot of parts. Last weekend I finally started tearing into it. I've got the engine on the hoist ready to come out as soon as I pick up some bolts to attach it to my engine stand, and drop the last two bolts in the front crossmember.

Plans are an almost complete restoration, fix all the dings and dents, new paint, all new suspension components, new brakes, exhaust, re-skinned interior, all the normal wear parts on the drive train, wheels, and a few small upgrades.
The engine will stay mostly stock for now due to $ It's got a fresh MKIV head gasket, and runs/sounds perfect, so I'll just pull it, clean it up, and replace the chains/guides, the entire cooling system, a new power steering pump, etc...
The transmission shifts great, so for now I'll just clean it up, new clutch, new gear oil, and put it back in. I've got a spare O2A I'm going to rebuild with an LSD later.

The time line will be fairly long. I'm hoping to be done by next March or so, but I'm not in any hurry. I just want it to be done right. I've got about half the parts I need, with most of the expensive stuff still to go. I just finished saving up for the paint and bodywork, so as soon as I get it stripped down to a shell It's off to the body shop.

Bondo and Porsche stickers should be banned in the U.S... Or at least require certification. Jesus christ.

HA!

The best part was when I pulled the wheels off for the first time. Each brake caliper has a tiny little Porsche sticker right in the center.

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-

Small update.
In the last week, I got the engine and transmission out despite the rear engine mount being fused to the bracket, and a few other surprises. Today I got most of the interior out including the dash. I discovered someone cut the plug off of the center gauge harness, and connected it into their A pillar gauge pod wiring with butt connectors, so that will have to be sorted out, along with the hacked, and spliced speaker wiring they used to rig a pair of Alpine tweeters with some sort of capacitor in the dash speaker locations.
The steering fluid came out black. So I'm considering replacing the rack just for peace of mind. The pump I knew was on it's way out, so that is getting replaced as well.

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-

I'm making good progress, (for me!) and I'm almost ready for an update. I've held off because I think everyone here has seen a Corrado being stripped plenty of times!

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-

Ya I hear ya man, that's why I waited so long to put my thread up. No one cares about what it used to look like, they look fresh shiney pics. haha. I'll keep my eye out for the updates for sure though.

I've gotten the Car about 95% stripped. All that is left to deal with are the windows, parts of the wiring harness, the suspension, and parts of the exhaust. I also have to figure out how to get the mirrors off, and apart.
I decided to completely rehab, and reinstall the suspension before It goes to the body shop. I don't want to have to deal with taking any rusty stuff apart after paint. So far she's been fighting me every step off the way. despite the fact that I hosed down every fastener with PB blaster, and let them sit for a few days, before doing it again, I've broken a LOT of bolts. The real fun came when I tried to separate the tie rod ends, and ball joints. I basically destroyed my pickle fork on the ball joints, and had to go to plan B, which was a torch, and a puller.

Along the way I decided to play around with electrolytic rust removal. Basically it's using a small battery charger, and an electrolyte made of water and baking soda, to chemically remove rust without touching the good metal underneath. I used my front engine mount bracket as the guinea pig. It was seriously rusty, and had a broken off bolt completely fused into one of the threaded holes.

Here is a pic of my setup, it's important that the sacrificial anode be plain steel or iron, and as large in surface area as possible. I used an old brake rotor. (Do not use Stainless steel!!!! You will end up making a super toxic chromium stew.)

After plugging it in it started bubbling immediately. After about an hour, It looked like this.

This was the final result. I'm pretty sold on it. Any rust color you see is due to it sitting for a couple of weeks since I did this. I wanted to make sure it wasn't too clean for the POR 15! I did end up losing patience waiting for the broken bolt. It was really fused in there, so I drilled it, broke it out in pieces, then cleaned up the threads with a tap.

I used a press and a puller at work to get the bearing housings and hubs apart. those have been cleaned up, and are also waiting for their coat of POR 15.

Up next is the front subframe, I'm having trouble with the drivers side front control arm bolt, which is the same one I broke doing the bushings on my '92. Luckily I discovered I can access the back of it through the bottom of the trans mount cup, so with some patience, and some heat hopefully I won't be needing a new subframe.

I've also continued to collect lots of goodies!

I haven't decided if I'm going to use the Mattig Eyebrow yet. Normally I'm not a fan for a couple of reasons, but I have a plan for it, that may or may not work out...

That's it for now. I'll probably update again after I finish the suspension. I still have to decide where I'm going with springs/struts, or coils. I'm starting to lean toward coils, even though I'm more after a decent ride than "Moar low"!

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-

Saw the electrolysis thing in the fabrication forum. Interesting stuff. I hope you plan to remove the rest of the powdercoating from that mount bracket before POR15. I have found if it is bare metal that was sanded with 40 grit and using the marine clean prep it sticks well. Otherwise it sheets off

Originally Posted by ein

* IMPORTANT* The English language is completely inadequate for describing how spectacularly stupid this thread is.

I saw the electrolysis thing in the fabrication forum. Interesting stuff. I hope you plan to remove the rest of the powdercoating from that mount bracket before POR15. I have found if it is bare metal that was sanded with 40 grit and using the marine clean prep it sticks well. Otherwise it sheets off

As far as the body work goes I've started working on the floor pans, which I'm going to strip, then POR 15. There was standing water in them when I pulled the carpets, so there is some rust. There was also a big dent plus a small hole under the drivers seat. I hammered it out, I just need to prep and coat it. All the body stuff you won't see I'm doing myself, the real work I'm leaving to the body shop. I would just drive myself crazy trying to get it perfect.

The rest of the powder coating on the mount is coming off, I bought some stripper, as well as marine clean, and the metal prep from the POR 15 guys. I'm just waiting till I get all the suspension parts off, and cleaned, so I can do it all at once.

Originally Posted by cstanley19

Nice work bud. Keep on keepin on! I haven't had a chance to get workin on mine since I went on leave but I plan on doin work this weekend.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by jettag60

that electrolysis worked aweoms....but why not just powdercoat everything?

Because POR 15 is (Supposedly) tougher when applied properly, seals/prevents rust, and I can do it myself to save some $$$ for more sweet parts!

Last edited by NoCYet; 07-23-2010 at 03:03 PM.

I do not understand why some coupes make the grade and others do not. Everyone knows, for instance, that the Corrado was as tasty as an East End prize fighter with the looks of a Benetti super-yacht. The four-cylinder was good, but the VR6 was about as close as you could get to Ferraridom without buying a Ferrari. And what happened? You all went to the pub instead. -Jeremy Clarkson-